Issue with Gigabyte 965P-DS3P freezing in POST

jbrown313

jbrown313

jbrown313

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13 Mar 2007
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5
Hello there,

I am having a really puzzling problem with my machine - it freezes during POST. Here are the details:

Gigabyte 965P-DS3P
Intel Core 2 Duo 6400 (not overclocked - stock speed)
2GB DDR2 Memory (Corsair matched pair - 800Mhz)
Nvidia Geforce 7900 GS OC
Zalman CPU cooler (Zalman CNPS8000)
Corsair 520W power supply
Creative X-Fi Gamer sound card
2 x DVD-RW drives
2 x WD 250GB drives (non-RAID)

Essentially, as I said at the top, it freezes during POST - sometimes during the splash screen, sometimes after it lists the POST/BIOS summary, but it never gets past that point. It does not attempt to boot from the floppy/dvd-rom/hard-drives at all.

Also, it does not recognise my keyboard, so I cannot check anything within the BIOS.

I have tried many things:
- Unplug all boot devices (floppy/dvd-rom/hard drives/etc.) thinking that at least I'd get an error about no boot device, but I get nothing.
- Unplug all PCI cards (no change).
- Swap the power supply for a known working one - no change.
- Swap the video card (no change)
- Swap with different memory (no change)
- Reseat everything (no change)
- Reset the BIOS (via the dip switch on the motherboard) - no change
- Boot without keyboard/mouse connected

In the end, the only thing I cannot change is the CPU, as I do not have another core 2 cpu lying around. A friend has a BIOS diagnostic add-in card, and it apparently froze with an error code that seems to indicate that there is a problem with the South Bridge.

I already have an RMA number from Overclockers, so I am returning the motherboard for a replacement, but I'd just like to know if anyone has seen anything similar, and if anyone has any further suggestions as to what it might be. I think I've narrowed it down to either CPU or motherboard, I think, at least!

Many thanks!
 
Well you've been thorough in your investigations alright! Curious though as to how you swapped out all those parts but not the CPU. How come you had all those bits lying around but not another CPU!?! It does sound though like the mobo is b0rked. Good luck.

P.S. have you flashed the BIOS since you bought the board?
 
Some of the kit that I had tried to diagnose with came from the same person who had the POST diagnostic board - unfortunately he wouldn't take his CPU out of his machine for me to test - grrr!

Also, no I've not flashed the BIOS on it at all - it's never booted properly, and has no OS on it yet.

It's a pain not having all the right equipment/spares for these things, but oh well - even if I have a little bit of downtime, I'd far rather build my own system and support it than get a Dell and have them "support" it.
 
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When you unplugged the HDDs did you unplug the power and the cables, or leave one plugged in? Also make sure you boot with the kb and mouse connected, and if you haven't tried it yet connect them trhough the PS/2 ports rather than USB. Also try booting with one HDD only.
 
I made sure to unplug both power and data (SATA) cables when I was disabling the drives. I also tried to boot with just a single hard drive hooked up, and still no joy. I can hear the drive spin-up when I turn the power on, so I am quite certain it's not the hard drives causing the issue.

I also have tried with an old PS/2 keyboard and mouse attached, with nothing attached, different USB keyboard and mouse - nothing. How incredibly frustrating.
 
have you checked ** graphics card / pcie e port as i had a prob like this with 1 of my ds3 p i could hear the drives spin up and then nothing not even a display found out i damaged the pcie e port
if ** getting a display then that wont be your prob
 
I do get some output from the graphics card - the Gigabyte splash screen (I would normally disable this in the BIOS menu if I could get into it..doh), and occasionally the POST summary. I tried another graphics card (ATI X1950 Pro), but it exhibited the exact same behaviour.

I appreciate the comments guys - any bit helps! When I do get the replacement board I'll update the thread with any news.

Thanks!
 
could be a ram problem have you tryed other sticks in as ithink its the ds3's you have to set your ram voltage or it wont post. i read that somewhere on fourms
 
Well, I RMA'd the board off to Overclockers, and it was sent back with a note that essentially said it worked fine for them. I was puzzled, and ended up trying various things while tearing my hair out.

And... they were right! It was my memory after all - I had obviously not been keeping careful enough track when I was doing my testing. I believe that one of my DIMMs is faulty. If I boot with both DIMMs inserted, then I essentially cannot finish POST - no errors are listed, no boot codes, it just goes no further. If I boot with only 1 specific DIMM, then it boots up just fine. This will teach me for not being careful enough with my testing..

I've tried increasing the voltage on the memory by .1V, as some have suggested in other threads, but it's no different.

I'm starting the RMA procedure with Corsair now - they suggest to run memtest, but as I say, I can't even finish POST to run it.

Thanks for the hints guys - it was a great help.
 
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